Questions? We have answers; a roundup of commonly asked herb questions - The Herbalist

Vegetarian Times, Oct, 1996 by Kathi Keville

tHOSE who teach herb classes hear students ask the same questions over and over. Chances are you may have wondered about these same things yourself.

I asked several well-known herbal medicine teachers to tell me the most frequently asked questions and the responses they give the students. All of these herbalists have been teaching for more than 20 years each, so they had plenty of examples. Their responses offer an excellent introduction to herbal medicine.

Remember this is only an introduction and does not provide all you need to know before plunging in to treat yourself and your family. If you aren't able to attend classes, read some excellent books available on the subject, including those written by the experts interviewed here.

These herbalists include Christopher Hobbs, an acupuncturist and third generation botanist from California who has written more than a dozen books on herbs, including Foundations of Health (Botanica Press, 1992). He has just produced The Herbal Prescriber, a software program that helps people figure out which herbs to take for different conditions.

New Jersey herbalist David Winston is trained in Chinese, Eclectic, Cherokee and Western systems of herbal medicine. He owns an herb company, Herbalist and Alchemist.

Rosemary Gladstar is the author of Herbal Healing for Women (Simon and Shuster, 1994). She founded the California School of Herbal Studies in Forestville, Calif., and now runs an herb company and school called Sage Mountain in East Barre, Vt. She also coordinates the annual International Herb Symposium held in Massachusetts.

Susun Weed is an herbalist from upstate New York, where she tends her herbs and goats and teaches workshops when she isn't traveling around the world giving seminars. Susun has written several books on herbs for women, including Menopausal Years (Ash Tree Publications, 1992) and Breast Cancer? Breast Help! (Ash Tree Publications, 1995).

I am currently taking a certain drug. What herb can I substitute for this drug?

I find that most people are looking for magic bullets. It is no wonder. We live in a culture that is bathed in the Western paradigm of medicine. Most people perceive herbalism the same way they look at drugs, thinking, "This herb is good for this condition." Herbalism doesn't focus on treating diseases and symptoms but on treating the overall individual. If you take 10 people with the supposedly same disorder, you could have 10 different protocols--methods and remedies--to treat them.--David Winston

I'm hesitant to abandon the drugs I have relied on for years. Is it OK if I sometimes use Western medicine and other times use herbal medicine?

In some cases. We need to appreciate what each of these systems has to offer. Where herbalism is strong, Western medicine (also called allopathic medicine) tends to be weak. Likewise, where allopathic medicine is strong, herbalism has gaps. For example, Western medicine has little to offer people who have chronic diseases such as benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH). The conventional treatments, such as surgery or drug therapy, have many side effects. But herbs such as saw palmetto, nettle root and white sage are more effective, cost much less and have no side effects.

On the other hand, Western medicine has effective therapies for treating trauma injuries, like broken bones and head injuries, or life-threatening acute conditions, such as bacterial meningitis. In such cases, herbs are not the primary but the secondary treatment. I have seen excellent results when herbs were part of an integrated treatment that included conventional therapies too. Herbs, along with diet and possibly nutritional supplements, often reduce the recovery time from an acute disorder or improve the quality of life for an individual with a chronic problem.

One example I know of is a 4-year-old child with cystic fibrosis, an inherited disease that results in repeated respiratory infections and problems with the pancreas and sweat glands. This child had spent about 80 percent of his life in the hospital. After an herbal program was added to his conventional treatment, his quality of life improved dramatically. It's been two years now, and he hasn't been in the hospital since.--David Winston

What herbs do I have to take when I reach menopause?

None. There is nothing wrong with a woman in menopause so she doesn't need to be treated. A menopausal woman may develop symptoms that she wants to ease or eliminate. She might use a nourishing herb tea such as nettles or oatstraw to help strengthen her adrenal glands. [During menopause, the adrenals take over from the ovaries to produce certain hormones related to sexual response, libido and well-being.] She might choose to take mother-wort to help strengthen her heart and relieve hot flashes; hormonal protections against heart disease decline after menopause. She might use a calcium-rich herb vinegar to increase dietary calcium and keep bones strong. [Vinegar draws out the calcium to make it available to the body.] But she doesn't necessarily need to take anything.--Susun Weed